Wanting to work in medicine has always been a dream of mine, but one event in particular has driven to want me to become a Physician Assistant (PA) more than any other. Two years agoI was in a tragic accident. A man on a motorcycle crashed into my car and died on the highway. I was driving to work and glanced down at my radio. In less than a second, he crashed into me and all I could do was scream and slam on my brakes. frantically called 911 and climbed out of my car. I looked around and saw him about 100 feet away; bloody, limbs twisted, and chest moving with rapid, shallow breaths.
Other cars were still crashing around me but I ran to him, praying that he was alive. When I finally reached him, all I remember seeing were his eyes wide open staring at mine with a dead, empty gaze. That memory still haunts me, as I’m sure it always will, but I am applying to become a PA because I want to use the gifts I have to some way make up fo that accident and save lives that no one else thought were possible. Before that accident I had never seen anything so traumatic in my life, despite growing up surrounded by medicine. My parents both work in healthcare so from a very young age I spent a lot of time with their patients when they brought me with them to work. That exposure got me interested in medicine at a very young age and was probably the most informative, in terms of my decision to seek out work in the health field.
My sister can even vouch, after being bandaged thousands of times, that medicine has always been passion of mine. I think that is the reason I always wanted jobs that involved hands on patient care during high school and college. I first worked as a lifeguard, which gave me an opportunity to do basic care like taking vitals and bandaging wounds. The experience proved useful when l cut my forehead open on a diving board and gave myself first aid until paramedics arrived. The next job I had in healthcare was being a rehabilitation therapist for children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. I worked with two different companies and had the opportunity to assess and deliver my own psychotherapy treatments in both clinical and home health settings. I worked directly under psychologists and gained a lot of valuable patient care experience, which included coordinating psychotherapy with proper drug treatments, crisis intervention, administering drugs to resisting patients, and assisting with personal hygiene. I want to briefly mention my chemistry grades during my freshman and sophomore years of college.
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I am not satisfied with them and I do not think they accurately represent my performance as an undergraduate. I had a hard time adjusting to college like many people do but combined with that my dad was diagnosed with cancer my first semester. I should have admitted I needed help earlier but I didn’t want anyone to know I was struggling. As a result, my grades suffered until I finally sought out the help I needed. Thankfully, I was still able to graduate with honors and get two minors along with my major but after graduating I decided to retake organic chemistry to prove that the material wasn’t too hard for me to master. When I graduated from the University of Arizona, I started working at Creative Testing Solutions as a clinical technician. In my free time though, I volunteered with doctors and nurses to gain more clinical experience.
I spent over 1,000 hours at a primary health clinic, where doctors allowed me to do things like take vitals, use otoscopes, and perform auscultations on the lungs of patients. OnceI was able to be a part of the diagnostic side of medicine, I knew I was where I belonged. I also volunteered at a local emergency room to get experience in hospital settings but was frustrated with how litle I was allowed to do. Initially, I would say that I was on track to becoming a doctor until a mentor of mine, who practices medicine, talked to me about the PA profession. We discussed the differences between PAs and doctors in terms of what my goals are in life, and I realized that being a PA matches my lifestyle so much better than being a doctor. The experience I’ve had shadowing PAs has been great, I’ve performed entire physical examinations, practiced examining cranial nerve reflexes, taken vitals, and counseled patients about preventative care.
I really love the idea of working in healthcare as a physician assistant and from what I have seen during shadowing, it is the right career choice for me. As an applicant, I think what makes me an asset to any PA program is my determination. I have been working and volunteering in medical positions for years to get more hands on patient care because I dream of being able to help and save other people’s lives in a significant way. I don’t think there is anything I’m not willing to do to become the best medical professional I can be and that should be an asset that any PA program is looking for.
References
- Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant
- National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants
- Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA)
- PMC – Physician Assistant Journals
- Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
- Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise
